Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen publicly called for the Kuomintang to return to power — a message of unity for the pan-blue camp, though the backlash in online comments shows her image is not on firm ground.

• At an event held by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, Lu Shiow-yen shared the stage with Legislative Yuan Speaker Han Kuo-yu and Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, saying that if the KMT returns to power, "we will all be there, and not one of us can be missing."
• The event marked a joint initiative by the six special municipalities to establish a "Taiwan Local Government Association," with Han Kuo-yu and Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung witnessing the signing of a letter of intent by local government heads.
• That evening she posted the video of the three of them together on Facebook and repeated the same line, which was read as a show of joint backing among the pan-blue camp's three leading figures.
• The post drew a flood of criticism, with commenters questioning Taichung's municipal administration, debt levels and air quality, while others faulted the KMT as being close to Beijing and as having performed poorly in opposition.
• In the latest polling on the 2028 race, Chiang Wan-an leads, Han Kuo-yu is second and Lu Shiow-yen third, making the interplay of cooperation and competition among the three a matter of particular interest.

Outlook: The pan-blue camp's three figures are likely to keep up the show of "unity" in the near term, but the substantive jockeying over the 2028 nomination will only become more apparent.